How do I pretty-print one-line XML?

Paste the XML into the input box, choose the formatted view and an indent of 1, 2 or 4 spaces, then press Copy or Download. Output updates as you type. Load example fills in sample XML to try.

Why does it say my XML has an error?

The browser's built-in DOMParser checks that the XML is well-formed and the tool shows its error message. Typical causes are an unclosed or mismatched tag, an unescaped ampersand, or a missing single root element. A valid file shows Well-formed XML.

Can I minify XML or convert it to JSON?

Yes. Switch the view from formatted to minified to strip whitespace between elements, or to JSON for a conversion. In JSON, attributes become keys starting with @, and repeated sibling elements become arrays.

Why does the output differ from my XML when it has a DOCTYPE?

For documents with a DOCTYPE or entity declaration, formatting expands internal entities and drops the DTD, so the output is not identical to the input. The tool shows a warning; review the result before relying on it.

Does my XML get sent anywhere?

No. Parsing uses your browser's native DOMParser, and the formatter, minifier and JSON converter are written into the page. Nothing is uploaded, so config files and API payloads stay on your device.

Yes. Every tool is free to use, with no account and no credit card. The work runs on your device rather than on our servers, which is what keeps it free to run.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. It runs in current mobile browsers on iOS and Android, with nothing to install.

📰

Free XML Formatter & Validator

Pretty-print and validate XML using your browser's native DOM parser. Includes minified output for production use.

Runs in your browserNo sign-up, no pop-upsNo login requiredFree forever

Works offline once loaded

Indent:

Drop a file here, or click to browse

XML · processed on your device

or press Ctrl+V to paste from your clipboard

Browse files

XML input

Formatted XML

Output will appear here…

Common uses

Format RSS / Atom FeedsInspect and pretty-print RSS or Atom feed XML to verify structure before publishing.
Format SOAP API Requests and ResponsesSOAP envelopes are notoriously hard to read on one line. Format them to debug API calls.
Format and Validate Sitemap.xmlCheck sitemap.xml for SEO — see all URLs and verify the structure is valid before submitting to Google.
Inspect Office Document XMLModern .docx, .xlsx, .pptx files are ZIP archives of XML. Inspect the internal XML for debugging.
Inspect XML Configuration FilesSpring, .NET, Tomcat, Maven, Ant — many ecosystems use XML config. Format for review.

How It Works

This tool parses and reformats XML entirely in your browser using the built-in DOMParser API — the same XML engine that browsers use to handle SVG and XHTML. No library is loaded; the pretty-printer, minifier, and JSON converter are all hand-written in this tool.

1
DOMParser validates structure
Your XML is fed to the browser's native DOMParser with MIME type application/xml. If the document is not well-formed — an unclosed tag, a missing root element, mismatched quotes — DOMParser produces a parsererror node and the tool surfaces the browser's own error message rather than silently ignoring the problem.
2
Custom serializer rebuilds the tree
A hand-written recursive walker traverses every node in the parsed DOM — elements, text nodes, CDATA sections, comments, and processing instructions — and re-serializes them with your chosen indent width (1, 2, or 4 spaces). Minified output reuses the same walker with an empty pad string, so whitespace-only text nodes are stripped without touching text content inside elements.
3
Structural statistics are counted
During the formatted serialization pass the walker counts every element and attribute in the document and reports totals alongside before/after character sizes, giving you a quick structural overview of the XML without any extra parse step.
4
Optional JSON conversion
A second recursive function converts the parsed DOM to a JSON object: element attributes become keys prefixed with @, repeated sibling elements become arrays, and lone text children become plain string values. The result is serialized with JSON.stringify for download or copy.